The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season two narrowed down the options for who the Dark Wizard could be, but it could end up being a lot more complicated than that. The Prime Video series relied heavily on the mystery box trope, creating several original characters to connect to Tolkien’s canonical creations. Season 2 confirmed the Stranger’s identity and gave some more hints about who the Dark Wizard is and how he connects to Gandalf. However, even with these clues, Rings of Power could take advantage of some characteristics of Tolkien’s work to deceive the public.
The Stranger being Gandalf solved one of the greatest mysteries of Rings of Power season 1, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the Prime Video series’ version of Istari. There were theories that Rings of Power had invented his own Istar with the Dark Wizard and that he would not end up being a character mentioned in Tolkien’s works. However, this character confirmed in season 2 that he was one of “five” Istari, proving that he must be Saruman, Radagast, or one of the two Blue Wizards. Still, There may be a technicality involved here.
Power Rings Can Take Advantage of Istari Reincarnation to Deceive the Public
The Dark Wizard’s Identity Could Technically Change
Rings of PowerThe film’s producers joked that the Dark Wizard being Saruman would be highly “unlikely“and it was assumed that this character could not be Radagast the Brown. Since the Dark Wizard confirmed that five Maiar were sent to Middle-earth to become wizards, this must mean that he is one of the two Blue Wizards. However , the fact that Rings of Power hasn’t come out and confirmed what seems like an obvious fact is surprising. It’s possible the series has another sleep trick, and it could revolve around an Istar’s ability to reincarnate into a new wizarding form.
Like all immortal beings in Lord of the RingsIstari’s soul can be placed in a new body if the previous one is killed. This happened to Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when he returned as Gandalf the White. Due to this, is it possible that the Dark Wizard it’s actually an original character, but that he will die and return as one of the canonical Istari. Or the Prime Video series could establish that he’s one of the Blue Wizards, but kill him off and bring him back as Radagast or Saruman. Of course, this would mean that fewer than five Maiar were sent to Middle-earth.
The Dark Wizard could be lying about being one of the five
The public may be barking up completely the wrong tree
Another common theory about the Dark Wizard is that he is not an Istar. In canon, the Blue Wizards taught magic to the Men of Rhûn, and it was considered that the Dark Wizard is actually just a human pretending to be an immortal wizard. He may have learned from the true Blue Wizards how many Istari were sent to Middle-earth and used this information to take advantage of the Stranger, knowing that he would still be disoriented when taking on a new form. Of course, Gandalf didn’t trust the Dark Wizard even after sharing this information, so Rings of Power season three could reveal this villain’s true identity.
Power rings may be taking the mysteries of the character’s identity too far
Constantly guesses that characters’ canonical identities are aging
It’s certainly possible that that Dark Wizard really is a Blue Wizard, period. However, it is a little frustrating that Rings of Power season two would not only confirm this. By keeping the characters’ true identities secret, it seems that the The Prime Video series is using canon-based audience expectations as a red herring with a plan to trick them at the last moment. However, the fact that the Stranger has been confirmed as Gandalf after two seasons of beating around the bush could indicate that the Dark Wizard will be exactly who everyone expects him to be – no gimmicks.
The fact that the Stranger has been confirmed as Gandalf after two seasons of beating around the bush could indicate that the Dark Wizard will be exactly who everyone expects him to be – no gimmicks.
Without considering, Rings of PowerMyanmar’s reliance on these character identity mysteries is a little frustrating. Without any surprising twists, there’s no real reason to extract the answers. Doing so leads the audience to get tied up, creating fruitless theories, just like they did with The Stranger. The Dark Wizard reincarnating into Saruman or Radagast, or revealing himself to be just a human pretending to be a wizard, would be quite uncomfortable twists that contradict Tolkien’s canon, just for the sake of surprises. Maybe it’s time to Rings of Power just to clearly state who these characters are, without further games.